Sailun Viet Nam - Montana Owners Club

TomCat · 11-15-2021, 06:57 PM

I put 4 Sailun 637 tires on my rig a year ago. At the time, I had read a ton of good things about this tire on this forum and others. However, I was a little confused when my tires were stamped “Made in Viet Nam”, as I thought Sailuns were made in China. Oh, well, no big deal. Over time, I started to see on this form and others that there have been a number of Sailun failures. Over time, it became apparent that the failures were on tires made in Viet Nam. I watched with interest, but I have been skeptical, as you tend to get anecdotal “evidence” on online forums, where a tiny fraction of owners actually post their experiences. Certainly, of the many tires sold this can’t be representative of the average owner experience.

Well, we pulled into our overnight stop last night and, long story short, we noticed some damage around the passenger side front tire. Upon closer inspection, I saw that the tread on that tire was completely gone. The tire never lost air, but the tread was completely gone. And, there was considerable damage where apparently the loose tread flapped around before completely separating. Sailun 637 made in Viet Nam. I think I can get the tire replaced under warranty, but the damage it did is considerable and will cost much more than the tire to fix. I’m now a believer.

Montana Man · 11-15-2021, 07:34 PM

That's unfortunate. Thanks for sharing as it adds to our collective knowledge base. Perhaps Sailun will kick in to cover some of the damage as well.

**Carl n Susan** · 11-15-2021, 07:54 PM

Do you happen to know the Date Code of when they were manufactured?

Tomcat3rd · 11-15-2021, 08:10 PM

I have Sailun tires as well on my 2019 3931FB and I wonder how you tell they’re made in Vietnam? We bought our unit in May of this year. We’ve only taken one real trip thus far in our unit and all seems well with the tires. I too had heard good things about them. My tires are date code stamped in 2018 and I plan on changing them before 2024. I’ve heard that six years is the max one should expect from tires regardless of mileage. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

Daryles · 11-15-2021, 08:13 PM

Please report the defective tire here
NHTSA report a problem
https://www.nhtsa.gov/report-a-safety-problem#index
We have to get these bad tires off the road. Hopefully if we all report them every time this happens they will be banned.
Thank you

socoinc · 11-15-2021, 08:53 PM

How many miles did you have on those tires. I have the Vietnam tires on mine with around 4000 miles so far. I don’t drive over 65.
I have about another 1,500 miles to go before I get home. Hopefully they make it.

scattershot · 11-16-2021, 02:40 PM

Sailun should cover the damage to your rig, too. Never hurts to ask.

jcurtis934 · 11-16-2021, 02:46 PM

There should be a code stamped on the tires and you can look up that code to see what country they were manufactured in. I only run load range H Sumitomo 17.5 inch tires and they are made in japan... so I am no help to you sailing users.

phillyg · 11-16-2021, 07:27 PM

The reports are anecdotal in nature, but until the apparent change over to Vietnam, I only heard of two failures in six years, and one of those may have been from a road hazard.

TomCat · 11-16-2021, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomcat3rd

I have Sailun tires as well on my 2019 3931FB and I wonder how you tell they’re made in Vietnam? We bought our unit in May of this year. We’ve only taken one real trip thus far in our unit and all seems well with the tires. I too had heard good things about them. My tires are date code stamped in 2018 and I plan on changing them before 2024. I’ve heard that six years is the max one should expect from tires regardless of mileage. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

It should be stamped right on the side of the tire. Either Made in Viet Nam, or Made in China.

TomCat · 11-16-2021, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carl n Susan

Do you happen to know the Date Code of when they were manufactured?

I purchased them on November 11, 2020. Manufacture date stamp is 3320, which means they were finished the 33rd week of 2020. Only a couple of months before I took possession of them. I checked when I purchased them.

TomCat · 11-16-2021, 10:01 PM

Thanks for the reply. Sure would be nice, but I have never heard of a tire company doing that. Won’t hurt to ask, though.

TomCat · 11-16-2021, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by socoinc

How many miles did you have on those tires. I have the Vietnam tires on mine with around 4000 miles so far. I don’t drive over 65.
I have about another 1,500 miles to go before I get home. Hopefully they make it.

I think I had about 5000 miles on the tires when this happened. I don’t drive over 65, either. I still have to believe that most of these tires hold up, so I hope you don’t worry too much about getting home. Maybe check each tire for any signs of separation whenever you stop?

In all my years of towing RVs, this is the first tire failure I have had. When you think about possible tire failures on your car or truck, you think about the cost and inconvenience of a tire failure. However, on an RV, there is so much potential to do damage to the RV. Makes me wonder if I should replace all of my tires with something else before another one blows. I know there is no guarantee that any tire won’t fail, but since it happened to me it seems like it might be good insurance. I’m going to think about that for awhile.

TomCat · 11-16-2021, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daryles

Please report the defective tire here
NHTSA report a problem
https://www.nhtsa.gov/report-a-safety-problem#index
We have to get these bad tires off the road. Hopefully if we all report them every time this happens they will be banned.
Thank you

Will do. Thanks!

socoinc · 11-17-2021, 10:59 AM

Mine are 4020. I guess I’ll find out. The sad part is we pay all this money & they’re junk.

TomCat · 11-18-2021, 11:29 AM

For anyone still paying attention, I ended up checking my current local area (San Luis Obisbo, CA) for Sailun dealers. Found a few, but I was told they didn’t have any of the 637s, and couldn’t get any until the middle of next year. That was fine, as I had decided to get a new set, anyway. I put 4 new Goodyear G614s on. Hit me in the wallet, but my wife and I decided peace of mind is worth it. They did give me $120 for warranty on the bad tire. As expected, no help with the damage to the rig. Stay safe, everyone!

FloridaFiver · 11-18-2021, 04:33 PM

Thanks for the update Tomcat
Thanks for starting this thread also!

I am convinced that I can’t trust the 637’s we have
It is just not worth the risk to me. I want to know the tires are 100% solid and trustworthy

I am gonna order those 18ply HTL2 continentals for our rig so we can remove the Vietnam Sailuns we have now

Hope those Goodyear’s provide you with many miles of safe and efficient towing

All the best regards

Delaine and Lindy · 11-18-2021, 08:05 PM

I went with the Goodyear G614's also. Hard to find but, they are pricey. But, they are American made. Good Luck.

Happy trails.

Gaetan · 11-21-2021, 01:33 PM

Lucky with limited damage. On others I have seen the whole aluminium skirts damaged.

TomCat · 11-21-2021, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gaetan

Lucky with limited damage. On others I have seen the whole aluminium skirts damaged.

I actually had quite a bit of damage. A 25” x 8” rectangular “hole” right above the tire. Tore away the waterproofing layers and osb flooring, as well as took out the foam insulation. The aluminum skirting in front of the tire is damaged and will need to be replaced, along with the plastic fender molding. Also, a small hole in the Dacron on that slide out bottom that will need to be repaired. I will need to patch the holes exposed to the elements until I can get the rig to a repair facility when we have the time.

Integrity of the tires play an outsized role in our RVs compared to our cars and trucks, IMHO.

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